Army’s Desert Tortoise Translocation Plans Successfully Halted
The Army’s proposal to move 1,000 desert tortoises has been placed on hold by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, amid concerns over the Army’s previous plan that resulted in the death of 252 out of 600 tortoises.
The Center for Biological Diversity announced that a plan by the Army to move over 1,000 federally and state-listed threatened desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) from their Fort Irwin habitat to Bureau of Land Management lands has successfully been halted.
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In 2008, the Army’s catastrophic desert tortoise translocation - a “mitigation” for military base expansion into tortoise habitat - resulted in the death of 252 of 600 tortoises. Current translocation plans are on hold until a safe and appropriate strategy to protect the desert tortoise is put into place.
A biologist with the Center, Ileene Anderson, believes the Bureau made the right decision this time.
Fort Irwin’s original translocation program was a disaster for tortoises. We are relieved that the Bureau is putting the new plan on hold until the deadly issues are resolved, which is essential for keeping the declining desert tortoise from extinction …
The Bureau of Land Management finally recognizes what the public has been saying: that the agencies need to take the time to study the severe impact of the previous translocation on the survival of the desert tortoise in the western Mojave recovery unit and put in place a better strategy to protect the desert tortoise.
Although even “successful” desert tortoise translocations have had a 20-percent mortality rate, the Army’s previous outcome was an unacceptable disaster for the threatened reptile.
Desert tortoise numbers have suffered a disastrous decline due to many reasons:
- Disease
- Vehicles
- Development: Military, industrial, suburban
- Degradation of habitat
- Predation by dogs and ravens
Highlighting the need for increased conservation efforts and a successful translocation are the findings of recent population-genetics studies. Researchers confirmed that desert tortoises in the western Mojave desert are distinctly different from tortoise populations to the north, east, and south. Fort Irwin tortoises are part of the western Mojave population. In fact, the USFWS announced recently that they will consider listing the Sonoran desert tortoise as a distinct population.
Although nearly 1,000 of these tortoises per square mile once inhabited the Mojave, population declines caused them to be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. In addition to the devastation of the Mojave population by Army translocation projects, the rampant use of off-road vehicles, urban development, and livestock grazing are steadily destroying the tortoise’s disappearing habitat.
The desert tortoise is California’s state reptile.
Image source: istock.com
